Tippecanoe county schools shut down March 13 due to the ongoing threat of the coronavirus pandemic. Many schools turned to online learning platforms to finish out the school year. However, a private, Pre-K daycare run in my own home did not have the same luxury. 

My mother, Julie Fields, graduated from Purdue University in 1997 with a degree in early childhood education. Since graduating, Fields has worked at various facilities in Lafayette and West Lafayette. These jobs include teaching at Happy Hollow Elementary school, Head Start programs, and Charter hospitals. 

In 2018, Fields opened her own Pre-K run through the privacy of her home. The school-daycare system is notoriously known as “Ms. Julie’s,” a term the children she teaches call her. The private facility is home to eight to 11 children each school year ranging from ages 2 to 5-years-old. 

The business has been thriving since its opening due to Fields’ well-known love for children and passion for education throughout the Lafayette area. Oftentimes, Fields faces a wait list of roughly seven to 10 children, she said. 

“It is always hard to tell parents I don’t have space for their children at the moment,” she said. “But it is always encouraging to see how long parents are willing to stay on the waitlist just to send their children to my school.”

The impact of the coronavirus put Ms. Julie’s at a total standstill. Leaving her, and her eight current students, on the waitlist for re-opening. 

“It’s hard at this age because their brains are so malleable,” she said. “We get in this rhythm each day and something as simple as one day off can completely change this schedule, let alone entire months off.” 

Many of the parents whose children attend Ms. Julie’s are teachers at local schools. Fields follows Tippecanoe County School Corporation guidelines on closures affected by weather, holiday observances, and now, the coronavirus. 

Parents text and call Fields daily to check on the status of the Pre-K daycare. 

“Will you still be open for summer camp?” one text said. 

“I just can’t do this much longer,” another parent texted. “She won’t nap, cut my cat’s whiskers off, and cries each time we try to give her a bath. It seems like the progress she made at your house has completely disappeared.”

Fields encourages parents that they will get through this together, she said. Though, she fears the stories parents are telling her will carry into the following school year when she can hopefully reopen. 

“Children need a strict routine,” Fields said. “Without it, they can’t as easily comprehend right from wrong, good from bad behaviors.”

Fields hopes there will be good to come from these unprecedented circumstances, she said. Childcare and education may seem more necessary now than ever before. Questions regarding pay, curriculum and appreciation for childcare workers are just a few that may be reconsidered in the future, she said. 

In the meantime, Fields sends personal videos to the parents of her eight current students. The videos include interactive learning skills such as guessing which room Ms. Julie is standing in, colors and numbers and videos of the classroom Labrador Retriever, Journey. 

Families are encouraged to respond back to help with bonding and learning time with their children. 

“Some of the responses I get are hilarious,” Fields said. “You can see the bags under their parents’ eyes, but there is still the joy that lights up from seeing their children make progress, even virtually.”

Ms. Julie’s will continue to follow TSC guidelines, as well as Indiana protocol on the safety of everyone during the pandemic. Indiana is currently in stage two of a five stage process to safely reopen and operate as normal. 

The daycare remains empty, as Fields and her students reflect on old  memories and look forward to newer, safer, memories to come.